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Tmey
}} Dawnele Demya }} |common_name = Tmey |image_flag = tmey.png |image_coat = |symbol_type = |image_map = tmeymap.png |map_caption = Dark Green: Kingdom of Tmey Light Green: Tmeian Satellite State |image_map2 = |map_caption2 = |capital = Sawmt |largest_city = Tawht |largest_settlement = |largest_settlement_type = Largest City |ethnic_groups = 92% Tmeian 6% Goroci 2% Other |demonym = Tmeian |government_type = Constitutional Monarchy |leader_title1 = King of Tmey |leader_name1 = Ulshihn |area_km2 = 708,082 |area_sq_mi = 273,392 |area_rank = 37th |population_estimate = 31,200,000 |population_estimate_rank = 11th |population_density_km2 = 44 |population_density_sq_mi = 114 |population_density_rank = 20th |sovereignty_type = Important Dates |established_event1 = War of Tmeian Unification |established_date1 = 2420-2411 BU |established_event2 = Wolehti's Reforms |established_date2 = 790-783 BU |established_event3 = Tmeian-Athmir War |established_date3 = 180-188 AU |currency = Tmeian Trins}}Tmey, officially the Kingdom of Tmey (Tmeian: Tamt’ewla Tmeå IPA: tme.ɑ), is a country stretching across northern Ikmakhoe and covering most of the Tmeian Peninsula. Tmey was once one of the largest, most powerful countries on the planet, stretching from the Tutuyu Peninsula in the west to what is now Sepreshti in the east. In the late second century AU, Tmey came into conflict with Athimriss. In the ensuing war, Tmey lost most of its non-Tmeian territory, and the ruling line (dynasty) lost power. These territories were governed largely by anti-Tmeian governments propped up by Athmir naval power. The interior of the peninsula is comprised largely of the Tmyshke Mountains, and the coastal plains are very densely populated, especially around Lake Myshym. Tmey borders Sa-Esh and Yudru to the southwest and Kner-He and Sfendmer to the south. Awshlis Line (2420-2212 BU) The first king of a unified Tmeian state was Awshlis I The Unifier (Awşlis I “Yrınokmis"). At the time, the Tmeian Peninsula was divided into eight small kingdoms which were usually at war with each other. In 2420, Awshlis succeeded his half-brother as King of Kmyfis, a southeasterly minor kingdom. Kmyfis was viewed as weak and unstable during this transition, so its northern neighbor, Buthehm, hastily launched a half-thought-out invasion, hoping surprise would be adequate to win. Awshlis managed to lead an aggressive counter-attack and kill the Buthehmi king and marry his daughter. Fearing a potential domino effect, other regional kings rallied to oppose Awshlis. The ensuing wars--and at times, diplomacy--carried on for nearly a decade. In 2411, Awshlis declared an end to his war. He had unified six of the eight Tmeian kingdoms, with only the extreme northern Kingdom of Iisk-Nash and the Kingdom of Myshym, surrounding the titular lake, holding out. Much of the rest of Awshlis' reign was spent politicking and trying to solidify his base of power, particularly in the west. The Tmyshke Mountains made administration difficult, so he was able to curry favor and loyalty from western nobles by appointing trusted ones as regional governors with broad autonomy. Awshlis died in 2398 and was succeeded by his son Etukeyn I. Etukeyn picked up where his father left off. He traveled extensively throughout Tmey during his reign. His reign was fairly short, and he died shortly after collapsing suddenly during a meeting in 2392. Etukeyn's rightful heir was a 1-year-old grandson named Aktilim. Despite some initial turbulence, and eventual troika of regents wound up guiding much of his early reign. Aktilim I, despite ruling for seven decades, accomplished very little of note. He fought a number of minor wars with Iisk-Nash and Myshym, but no significant territorial losses or gains occurred. Aktilim died three days before his 71st birthday in 2322. He had fathered no known children during his lifetime, despite marrying five women. His fourth and fifth wives were both widows of proven fertility, but both failed to produce an heir. A great-grandniece of Etukeyn, Iewelwe, claimed she was Aktilim's rightful heir, calling herself Queen (gender-neutral Tamt'ehi) Iewelwe I. A cousin of hers proclaimed himself Oeshti I, and soon low-level skirmishes began occurring around the capital city of Weshtehm. Finally, in 2320, Iewelwe's forces sacked Oeshti's main base of power in Tykryhi, ending Oeshti's rebellion. Iewelwe I's reign was rather brief. She died in 2315 in a suspicious fire that started in her bedchamber. Her successor was Kufon I, the 14-year-old son of Oeshti. Oeshti was a popular man in his lifetime, and many who had supported his cause continued to support his son. Iewelwe had never been particularly popular, and the debt from her war against Oeshti proved difficult to shake off. Kufon's reign was also short. He ruled only five years. In 2310, he suffered a wound to his leg while hunting, which never properly healed, eventually killing him. When Kufon died, he had left only an eight-month-old daughter named Reshawh. Much like with Aktilim 82 years earlier, there was trepidation over supporting an infant monarch. However, her mother, who was the primary power during her minority, proved to be an effective leader. In 2291, at the age of 20, Reshawh I ordered the Kingdom of Iisk-Nash, which had suffered a string of weak rulers, to be invaded and annexed. The war to conquer Iisk-Nash was brief and ended in 2288, with King Vy'os surrendering his royal axe to Reshawh personally. A decade later, the Kingdom of Myshym fell, finally putting all of the Tmeian Peninsula into one state, finally accomplishing the goal Awshlis never managed to complete. She is remembered warmly in Tmey as the best of the Ancient Kings. Her military exploits were buttressed by a strong trade network that helped spread Tmeian culture and language to surrounding areas. She ruled until the age of 97, spending 96 of those years as Queen. Near the end, it is widely thought she was suffering from dementia. She had delegated most day-to-day duties to her advisers. Several months before she died, she was approached in secret by a grandson named Awshlis. He and a small cabal intended to usurp the throne for themselves, and they were able to get the elderly queen to sign an official edict, displacing her then-current heir, and naming Awshlis next in line for the throne. Awshlis was, if traditional Tmeian succession rules were followed, 22nd in line to the throne, as Queen Reshawh had given birth to 23 children, 18 of whom survived to adulthood. This sudden appointment, due to the Queen's authority, was impossible to legally override, so Awshlis immediately earned many enemies. Less than a month after Awshlis II (often called Silicis, ''"The Shadow", as in "A Shadow of Awshlis I") ascended in his own right in 2214, several aunts, uncles, and cousins repudiated him and declared war, though they themselves were far from unified. Many more opportunistic relatives also hoped to circumvent traditional succession by means of war. The war slogged on for two year, mostly around the capital, with the north and west of Tmey largely not participating. In 2212, fresh forces from the area around Lake Myshym swooped in. The capital of Weshtehm was sacked, and Awshlis and many of his relatives were killed, with the leader of these forces installing himself as king. Rewenm Line (2212-2130 BU) Rewenm was a grandson of the last King of Iisk-Nash. When he ended the civil war in the southeast, he crowned himself King of Tmey and ordered the capital be relocated to the former Iisk-Nashi capital of Fawhmem. Almost immediately, descendants of Reshawh challenged his grip on the kingdom, particularly in Kmyfis and Wawtekn. The first decade of his rule was spent nearly entirely at war, putting down rebellions and various claimants. Adding fuel to the various rebellions was his disestablishment of traditional gender-neutral Tmeian royal succession. It was replaced with the Iisk-Nashi male-preferential succession model. He ordered that this not only be applied to the royal family, but across all noble families throughout Tmey. The last of the major rebellions against Rewenm's rule ended in 2201 BU, when Shixmoe finally recognized his authority. A natural military leader, Rewenm continued to push further south and east after Shixmoe, expanding Tmey's borders to encroach upon Sfendmeri and Kneri lands. By the time Rewenm died in 2159, only small Sfendmeri and Kneri city-states had managed to avoid full incorporation into Tmey. Rewenm was succeeded by his son Inlis, despite having two older sisters. Inlis ruled for over two decades and desperately desired to be remembered as a conqueror like his father, but Tmey's borders remained nearly static in the south. Between 2155 and 2145, Inlis launched four invasions of the Dli-Ensh River Valley, only to be rebuffed by the local petty king each time. The repeated defeats on the southern frontier of the Tmeian armies emboldened to restive Sfendmeri and Kneri. Numerous minor rebellions needed to be quelled, and he struggled to keep the region under Tmeian rule. Rewenm died in 2137 and was succeeded by his only son, Heliuk. Heliuk had been given the derisive nickname (by his father, according to some) of "Hampe", or "the Feminine" due to his general aversion to war. From a young age, he much preferred to read and study, a strange aberration in Iisk-Nashi culture. Due to his bookish nature, he was often mocked openly, and he had few true friends or allies in the government. Most assumed he was soft and a pushover, so corruption ran rampant under his rule. As Heliuk struggled to get anyone to take him seriously, the extreme south of the country began sliding into deeper and deeper chaos. Heliuk tried to be diplomatic with the Sfendmeri and Kneri, but his overtures were answered with mockery, challenging him to end the rebellion with his own spear. In 2131, the former kingdoms of Shixmoe and Kmyfis, sharing the most border with the restive Sfendmeri and Kneri regions, declared that Heliuk was unfit to rule. Quickly, most other regions of Tmey joined in, seeking to depose a king viewed as weak and generally incompetent. The Iisk-Nashi tried to fight the rebels, but numbers were against them. After several months of debilitating losses, Heliuk offered to voluntarily step down, once a successor was chosen. After two months of debating between the major Tmeian noble families, a successor was chosen. True to his word, Heliuk stepped down. Less than a month later, he was found with his throat sliced open in his bedchambers. However, no serious inquiries into his death were made, largely due to his immense unpopularity. Hawmthm Line (2130-1799 BU) Upon ascending the throne, Hawmthm moved the capital city back to Weshtehm, and he reestablished traditional gender-neutral succession rules. Late in Heliuk's rule, both Sfendmer and Kner-He had managed to effectively break away from Tmeian control. Hawmthm tried to reach out diplomatically a number of times, but Sfendmer rebuffed him each time. A diplomatic mission to Kner-He which included a large military escort did result in that country submitting, albeit with guarantees of certain autonomy. Hawmthm ruled for 30 years and was succeeded by his daughter Iewelwe II. With Kner-He under Tmeian control, she decided to bypass attempts to conquer Sfendmer for the time being. Instead, she set her sights on the Dli-Ensh River Valley, which Inlis had invdaded numerous times, only to be defeated by the hilly geography and swampy land. Invasions via Kner-He were ruled out for logistical reasons. Near the end of her reign, she ordered the construction of a huge naval fleet designed specifically to be able to sail up the river. For this she is remembered as Iewelwe The Shipwright (İewelwe Xiniewåtokmis''). She died in 2084 and was succeeded by her son Boelse. Boelse saw his mother's fleet completed in 2079, though he did not share her singular desire to conquer the Dli-Ensh. He had additionally commissioned a number of larger ships more suited to sailing the open sea. He launched his fleet in 2078 from the newly-established city of Lulepul. He accompanied his fleet on numerous voyages, earning him the nickname Boelse the Sailor (Bölse Xintmetokmis). Towns were established along the Bherghoghi and Zvidzdrish coasts, and diplomatic overture made to local rulers. He also ordered explorations to continue further east, past Zvidzdrey. In 2052, he began outlining an invasion plan of the Dli-Ensh Valley, though he died before it could be carried out. His son Shipikra succeeded him in 2050. He declared he would personally lead the invasion and that his son and heir would accompany him. Early on, the invasion of the Dli-Ensh went very well. It is a wide, deep river in its lower reaches, but a few hundred miles inland, it suddenly gets much shallower. In 2049, Shipikra's boat ran aground on a sandbar. While the sailors were trying to extricate the ship, locals ambushed. This stretch of river was locally notorious as being difficult to navigate, so many armed regiments had been lying in wait. The ship was eventually freed from the sandbar, and the king and his heir sailed downstream, away from the attack. Both King Shipikra and his heir Isohl had been badly wounded. Shipikra died in less than two days due to massive blood loss. Isohl lingered for about two weeks before finally succumbing to a fever. Though he was never officially coronated, Isohl was posthumously recognized as King Isohl I. When news of the kings' deaths reached Tmey, Boelse's widow, Ykashi, ordered an escalation of the war in Dli-Ensh. Boelse's heair was his daughter Ythkawlu, who was only 14 at the time. Ykashi ruled in her stead for the next several years, with Ythkawlu gradually assuming greater responsibilities. Ykashi strongly resisted her daughter's efforts to rule on her own. The power stuggle came to a head when, in 2044, after five years of ruling, Ythkawlu ordered an end to the war in Dli-Ensh, as it was getting very expensive and was yielding no benefits. Ykashi strongly disagrred with her daughter and, in fact, ordered an escalation of the war. Most ministers sided with Ythkawlu, and Ykashi was arrested and confined to her apartment for the next three years. In 2042, Ythkawlu signed treaties with Sfendmer and Dli-Ensh, officially recognizing their independence and delineating borders. The lower Dli-Ensh was ceded to Tmey, leaving the independent Dli-Ensh a landlocked state. Sfendmer maintained a coastline, though not much of one. It retained only 12 miles of shoreline, none of which had good harbors for ports. In 2039, Ythkawlu launched a massive road-building campaign, with the particular interest of connecting eastern and western Tmey. Only two mountain passes were usable for anything more than small groups, so Ythkawlu focused on making those passes more easily-traversable. Though sharing a common language and religion with many shared cultural practices, eastern and western Tmey had always been very different. Historically, the west was poorer and less densely-populated, with the east being much wealthier and more cosmopolitan. Ythkawlu hoped to bridge some of those gaps by making travel through the mountains easier. A short section of road also was built through Sfendmer, connecting Tmeian Dli-Ensh-Bherghogh with mainland Tmey. The independent Bherghoghi warlords would not allow construction of a Tmeian road through their territory, for fear of making domination by Tmey that much easier. So Tmeian Zvidzdrey was left relatively isolated, most easily accessible by sea. Almost immediately, benefits were obvious, as travel times were slashed now that getting from one coast to the other no longer required circumnavigating the peninsula. In 2002, a massive hurricane slammed into the Dli-Ensh delta. Both the Tmeian and independent territories were devastated, with massive loss of life and material damage. The King of Dli-Ensh tried to gather the necessary capital to rebuild. He did not want to supplicate himself before the Tmeians, who had so frequently tried to conquer the region. Sfendmer was unwilling to lend any significant amount of money, fearing Tmeian reprisal, as Tmeian territories surrounded Sfendmer on three sides. Eventually, he did turn to Tmey for aid in rebuilding his kingdom. Queen Ythkawlu agreed, but with conditions which rendered Dli-Ensh an only nominally-independent client state. This left Sfendmer completely surrounded either by Tmey or Tmeian client states on all sides. In 1991, King Owshles of Sfendmer attempted to provoke western Tmey into revolting. He was working off the assumption that the poorer western Tmeians would resent their wealthier, eastern overlords. Had Sfendmer attempted this provocation before Ythkawlu's road-building campaign, they may have been successful. However, western Tmey had benefited greatly from Ythkawlu's roads. No serious rebellious sentiment could be roused from anyone of significance. Queen Ythkawlu, now 72 years old, took this provocation as an act of war and ordered an invasion of Sfendmer. The war was brief and ended in the sacking of the Sfendmeri capital of Kayaw. King Owshles was killed in battle, and his successor was his easily-cowed half-brother, Kwayam. Tmey carved off large chunks of Sfendmeri territory, including its short stretch of coastline, leaving it an impoverished rump state. Sfendmer was now an enclave within Tmeian territory. Queen Ythkawlu died at the age of 77 in 1986. She is the only Tmeian monarch to have been granted the epithet of "The Great" (Tmeian: Lotwe) Ythkawlu's oldest child, Naloeshn, succeeded her. His reign was brief, as his chronic ill health rapidly degraded with the stresses of ruling. He in turn was succeeded by his daughter Asteh. In 1979, Both Kner-He and the nominally-independent Dli-Ensh rose in rebellion against Tmey. The uprising lasted less than a year and ended in a crushing defeat for the rebels. The semi-autonomous region of Kner-He had its special status stripped, and Dli-Ensh was formally annexed as a province of Tmey. Asteh died without issue and was followed by her aunt, Knerit. In 1970, she changed the official status of the Bherghoghi and Zvidzdrish colonies. They were annexed as full provinces to the empire, sparking minor rebellions. Many of the non-Tmeians feared that their indigenous customs and religions would be suppressed under Tmeian rule. Knerit attempted to assuage this nervousness, but results were mixed, and mistrust of the crown ran high in both regions. Knerit is also credited with designing the first flag of Tmey. Prior to this, the royal family's banner was typically used as needed. This first flag consisted of the Tmeian glyph for "Tmey" in white on a black background. When Knerit died, her brother Kmulis usurped the crown from her daughter and declared himself king. His reign lasted less than two years, and most of it was spent dealing with rebellions in the restive south. Kmulis was deposed in 1964 by supporters of Knerit's daugter, Ioebighin. Kmulis died shortly after his ouster, but supporters of his daughter attempted to enthrone her. Intermittent conflicts broke out, mostly around the capital of Weshtehm. By 1960, the succession issue had mostly been settled, but the near-constant strife continued to destabilize the south and southwest of Tmey. Ioebighin died under suspicious circumstances but was succeeded by her son, Isohl II. Most of his two decades on the throne was spent handling the ongoing Kneri, Sfendmeri, and Enshi rebellions as they cropped up. Isohl was succeeded by his son Wroethys, who was widely liked by the general public, even in normally anti-Weshtehm areas such as Kner-He or Zvidzdrey. He died suddenly of a stroke after less than three years as king, leaving his 7-year-old son Tehhel as heir. Tehhel's reign, unlike previous child-kings, was turbulent, with the south once again becoming unstable. Tehhel died after five years as king of a lung infection and was succeeded by his aunt, who was crowned Iewelwe III. Iewelwe managed to calm the south, and Sfendmer managed to hang onto its tenuous independence. Iewelwe's successor, a grandson named Ghawshawnm, had a long, uneventful reign that saw Tmeian territorial integrity hold for the most part. His successor, Hawmthm II, was less able. A rebellion broke out in Sfendmer in 1849, and the upper Dli-Ensh region joined with them. They managed to secure their independence, largely due to material support from the neighboring Yudric principality of Huuyet. Ythkawlu II followed her father in 1840. She tried to retake Sfendmer-Dli-Ensh, but to little avail. Near the end of her reign, the highly porous Goroci southwest of Tmey began seeing raids from a group calling themselve the Em-Enn. Em-Enni raids worsened and grew in frequency under her successor, Shaliun. By 1805, the Em-Enni effectively controlled all Goroci lands and the region of Shixmoe. The Em-Enni proved exceptionally hard to stop on the battlefield, as they fought mounted on horses, an animal not native to that continent. They had recently been imported from the Haxro Peninsula, by way of the Duchy of Utunyemeka on the Tutuyu Peninsula. Starting in 1802, the Em-Enni began making a serious push toward the capital city. King Shaliun proved an indecisive and ineffective leader. In early 1799, a plan was hatched to overthrow the king by court officials, but only a few days before it was to be carried out, a surprise attack by the Em-Enni caught Weshtehm unawares, and the city was taken in just a few hours. Shaliun was killed, and the Em-Enni installed a puppet leader. Iembih Line (1799-1760 BU) Iembih was a mid-level noble from Shixmoe who allied with the invading Em-Enni early in their incursions into Tmey. The Em-Enni knew the Tmeians would not quietly accept outside rule, so they instead installed someone to act as a puppet. Despite this, the northern half of the peninsula managed to stay outside Em-Enni control and never recognized Iembih, instead claiming a cousin of Shaliun was the rightful king. In an attempt to assert more control over the north, Iembih, under guidance of the Em-Enni high warlord, Ghe-Us Ashk-Del, moved the capital from southeasterly Weshtehm to the west-central port city of Akale. This made the launching of invasions and attempts at administration easier, though little real headway was made. As unpopular as he was, Iembih was able to leverage the threat of Em-Enni incursions into the Tmeian heartland into begrudging political support. Most viewed him as the Em-Enni's puppet, but the fear was that if he was overthrown, Em-Enni attacks would become even worse. Iembih died in 1767, after over three decades on the throne. He was followed by his daughter Fislym. Fislym was, somehow, even less popular than her father. Her marriage to an Em-Enni man did not endear her to the general public, and her bilingualism in the Em-Enni tongue (as well as both her children's preference for Em-Enni over Tmeian) further alienated her from much of the elite. She was less apt at manipulating the general public with fear of Em-Enni attacks, especially as the Tmeians themselves had been adapting to mounted warfare. Horses had become widespread across northern Ikmakhoe, and the Tmeians borrowed other martial elements from the Em-Enni, including plate armor, weapons designed to puncture plate armor, and lightning strikes and withdrawals. In 1761, rebellion broke out just south of the eastern city of Tawht. The city was captured by rebel forces within a fortnight, and the pro-Em-Enn governor was executed. Most eastern and southeastern Tmey. The Em-Enni had formed strong alliances with the Kneri, Sfendmeri, and Enshi, and so enlisted their help in attempting to quell the rebellion. While the Tmeians had quickly and eagerly embraced mounted warfare, the peoples to Tmey's south had not, instead deciding to rely on the terrain to save them. This left them grossly unprepared for an offensive war on the coastal plans of Tmey, and all southerly armies were roundly defeated. With this defeat, the independent Sfendmeri rump state was finally fully absorbed into Tmey, ending nearly five centuries of resistance. As threats to the south were quelled, and the eastern Tmeians began marching toward the largely pro-Em-Enni west of the country, the nominally-free north of Tmey lent their strength to the rebellion. Siege was soon laid to Akale. Catapults were erected outside the city walls, and flaming debris was periodically launched into the city. One such attack managed to strike the royal stables, creating a raging inferno that soon engulfed much of the northeastern part of the city. Queen Fislym and her children died in the fire, and no siblings or cousins stepped forward to try to claim her crown. Impact of the Em-Enni on Tmeian Culture Despite ruling the country for only 39 years, and then subsequently being subjected to genocide, the Em-Enni invaders left several lasting marks on Tmeian culture. * The Tmeian word for "horse" is an Em-Enni loan (Nöş nøɕ from Em-Enni Nărč nɞ:ɰʷʧ) ** Many other terms relating to war are also Em-Enni loans, including "cavalry" (Tmeian: Nöşıtmå nøɕɯtmɑ:; Em-Enni: Nărč-Itim nɞ:ɰʷʧʔɪtɪm), "plate armor" (Tmeian: Cambyle ʔɐmʙɨle; Em-Enni: Ampa-Ile ʔəmpəʔɪlɛ:), "warhammer" (Tmeian: K’yşıř kˀɨɕɯʀ; Em-Enni: Čiči-Rü ʧɪʧɪʀy:), "lightning raid" (Tmeian: İålwaŕxn jɑlʊ̯ɐrxn̩; Em-Enni: Iya-Lauh Dran-Han dʁʷɑnɦən), and "sword" (Tmeian: Ryĥm ɾɨʜm̩; Em-Enni: Di-Khaum dɪkʰɑʊm). ** Tmeian military strategies were strongly affected by the introduction of horses and plate armor. * The Tmeain phoneme ʀ (transcribed /ř/) is commonly referred to as the "Em-Enni R" (Ŕa(s) Emene), whereas it had previously been referred to as the "Back-trill" (Pılcelş(is)). * "Em-Enni" (Wicemen) has become synonymous with "savage", "brute", or "barbarian". * Traditional Em-Enni cuisine, much of which involves grilling or stewing horse meat, became very popular, particularly in western Tmey. * Though not unheard-of, polygamy was extremely rare in Tmey. Em-Enni leaders often practiced polygamy, though, and this practice has remained not-uncommon in western Tmey since. Awmhalwi Line (1760-1390 BU) During the rebellion against Fislym, the governor of Iisk-Nash, Awmhalwi I-Isohl, had risen to be the de facto leader . After Akale was taken, he did not leave the cpital there, or move it to its former location, but instead he moved it to his hometown of Sawmt, in the extreme north. Awmhalwi's reign was notable for his ceaseless efforts to exterminate the Em-Enni. He placed a modest bounty for the head of Em-Enni males of warrior age, and he put handsome rewards out for the live capture of politically-important Em-Ennis. His 13-year reign saw the near-complete destruction of the Em-Enni civilization. Near the end of his reign, support for this campaign faltered, as other areas began becoming greater sore spots. What Em-Enni there were fled west and assimilated largely into either Goroci, Eshi, or Yudric cultures. Within a century, almost no one identified as Em-Enni. For his efforts at eliminating the Em-Enni, he is popularly known as Awmhalwi the Em-Enn Slayer (Awmĥalwi İb-Emenåy). Awmhalwi's successors gradually began to see their power weaken, particularly in the west and southwest. The Kneri remained nominally under Tmeian control, largely due to the system of roads that had been built through the region and made administration easier. Further west than the Kneri and Goroci lands, though, was very difficult to control. Etukeyn II launched an attempted invasion of the coastal plain in the west, but the fractious, nomadic peoples were nearly impossible to govern. Over two decades were spent attempting to expand westward, but to no avail. Etukeyn's successor, Kufon II, tried to expand further inland from Bherghogh and Zvidzdrey, but the mountainous Uddissia Highlands proved too difficult for large parties to easily traverse. As Awmhalwi's successors attempted their expansion (all while ignoring the independent state of Sfendmer-Dli-Ensh), many powerful regional nobles (called T'ylehn ''in Tmeian) managed to increase their sway while eroding royal power. Previous dynasties had often deposed overreaching t'ylehn, but by the time accrued regional power had become great enough to override royal authority, the kings and queens had largely been neutered and become highly insular and effective figurehead rulers. The religious leaders of the Tawr Synm faith (İalhwem'') were also able to take advantage of this power vacuum. Though Tmey remained officially one unified country, in reality, it was a sprawling patchwork of independent fiefdoms, theocratic city-states, and exclaves of area loyal to the government in Sawmt. The last of the Awmhalwi kings died in 1390, with the passing of King Ikoshi. Due to the highly fragmented nature of the country, this had little tangible impact on daily goings-on. Weghimle Line (1390-1003 BU) Weghimle I-Taxmi was late King Ikoshi's personal steward. Ikoshi, though married, did not have any children, and it was rumored he rarely, if ever, spent the night with his wife. After a few weeks of discussions amongst nobles still directly under Sawmt's rule, Weghimle was chosen, as it was felt he would provide the strongest continuity. For much of the Weghimle's time in power, the kings and queens followed the precedent of the figurehead Awmhalwi kings. Monarchs were very hands-off, for fear of provoking the more powerful vassals. King Toemel II began a shift in this position in 1162. He was a student of history, and he idolized the great conquerors of Tmey's distant past, especially Awshlis the Unifier. He set about reasserting royal authority in the rebellious corners of the country. He led his army against one t'ylehn at a time, slowly extending actual royal control across most of northern and southeastern Tmey. Large patches in the Tmyshke Mountains remained out of his reach, and swathes of the former Kingdom of Myshym had managed to repel his attacks. Similarly, regions bordering Sfendmer-Dli-Ensh were slow to be recaptured, though Bherghoghi and Zvidzdrish leaders were fairly enthusiastic for royal authority to return. His successors managed to effectively reclaim the entirety of Tmey and even began slowly pushing westward. In 1065, Queen Fu'asli's army reached the Ty'unutya Inlet. Tmeian control now stretched all the way across the northern coast of Ikmakhoe, though the Tutuyu Peninsula remained outside Tmeian control. Her successors (three consecutive King Aktilims--Aktilim II, III, and IV) maintained a territorial stasis in the west while keeping tight political control over the Tmeian heartland. As a means of consolidating political control over the Tmeian Peninsula, uncles had been marrying nieces, and cousins to cousins. Some negative traits had begun to become evident from the inbreeding, but it culminated in Aktilim IV, the only surviving child of Aktilim III and his niece Ythkawlu Se-Awshlis. Aktilim IV never progressed past the mental state of a six-year-old, he could only walk with two canes and some assistance, and his speech was slurred and nearly impossible to understand. He ascended at the age of 14 and ruled for an uninspiring seven years before finally succumbing to an aneurysm in 1003. Taxmi Line (1003-878 BU) Taxmi I-Mu'ashi was the son of a long-serving adviser of Kings Aktilim II, III, and IV. His father had been in charge of much of the administration of the western regions of Tmey and had even married a noblewoman from the Tutuyu Peninsula, of whom Taxmi was the oldest issue. For this, Taxmi was often called Taxmi the Tutuyu (T’åxmi Wituius). When Aktilim IV finally died, having lived far longer than anyone had expected, Taxmi's father, Awshlis, was a popular choice for a new king, but he declined, as he was nearly 80. Instead, he suggested Taxmi, and he was chosen after only a short period of debate. Taxmi's governing style was quite different from that of his predecessors in the late Weghimle Line. He took a more hands-off approach, and soon much of the western hinterlands of Tmey were lost. Sawmt still claimed them, but they were administered by local warlords and minor nobles. Tmey managed to hold onto all its mountainous territory in the southwest until the reign of Queen Tupes the Weak (T’upes Locekmis). Under her rule, regional Kneri and North Yudric leaders became bolder in their flouting of Tmey's authority, and Tupes did nothing to address it. Finally, in 912, a war broke out over the assassination of a Tmeian governor of the region. Tupes's response was limp, and soon the southwest regions were lost as well. Tmey continued to fragment back into its patchwork of fiefdoms, city-states, minor theocracies, and exclaves of royal authority. Sfendmeri aggression against Tmeian Dli-Ensh was effectively repelled numerous times under Hulehm in the early 9th century BU. Hulehm's successor was her only child, Uie III. Uie was only 12 when she ascended. She was widely referred to as Uie the Hideous (Uie P'ilok'ene), due to the remnants of a twin she had absorbed in the womb which stuck out grotesquely from her cheek. The leader of the nearby theocratic realm of Fanewht, Suteri, interpreted Uie's deformity as a divine sign that Taxmi's line had lost the right to rule. He was able to rile up his followers enough to officially denounce royal authority. Sensing an opportunity to justify a coup, many Tmeian noble families which had flourished under the Weghimle Line, joined with Suteri in a hope to reestablish strong executive authority. The rebellion lasted just over a year and ended with Uie and several family members fleeing by boat. Their boat is assumed to have sunk, as no records from anywhere in Tmey or the surrounding lands had record of its landing. Suteri Line (878-809 BU) Suteri I-Suteri was an influential priest of the Tawr Symn faith from east-central Tmey. He was also a distant cousin of the deposed Queen Uie III. Though many of the nobles who had helped bring him to power were wary of having a zealot as King of Tmey, Suteri, genealogically speaking, had a fairly good claim on the Tmeian throne. He had also proven himself to be an inspiring leader and effective military commander. When many of the eastern Tmeian nobles agreed to support him, it was largely due to his promise to reassert royal authority and reestablish Tmey as a major power in its hinterlands. Almost immediately after taking Sawmt from Uie's final loyalists, Suteri made good on his promise to centralize power. Royal armies struck southward down Tmey's east coast. Few battles were fought, as most fiefdoms willingly came under Sawmt's influence; common sentiment was that of the central government exerted its power, most small states would not be able to realistically resist. Bherghogh and Zvidzdrey had gained effective independence under the Taxmi Line. A series of brief wars in 870-863 brought them back under royal control. A few months before his death in 861, Suteri ordered forces to move westward. His successor, Asteh II, enthusiastically supported Suteri's vision, extending Tmeian control westward. Asteh's daughter, Fu'asli II ascended in 835. She set her sights on the Tutuyu Peninsula and negotiated a deal with the Kingdom of Liamsi. Tmey would provide manpower, and Liami would provide the necessary ships in a coordinated invasion. Tmey would claim the land on the east side of the Mountains of Weyef and north of the Ahulete River, and Laimsi would obtain the west slope of the mountains north of the Kunumeretu River. The invasion commenced in 833, and by the end of 829, the land had been partitioned as promised. A year later, Fu'asli resigned due to chronic poor heath in favor of her brother, Thikos II. Thikos' reign was short, as he was killed in battle while quelling an uprising in the western hinterlands in 824. He was succeeded by his younger brother, Ro'if. Ro'if did his best to stabilize the realm, marrying off cousins to new subjects in an effort to maintain loyalty to Sawmt in the kingdom's more distant corners. Ro'if's daughter Ghawloe succeeded him in 813. Ghawloe was his only child, but he had largely been an absentee father, instead having her tutors effectively raise her. Ghawloe was a deeply devout follower of the Tawr Symn faith, much like her great-grandfather, who had founded the line. This worried many nobles in Tmey, especially as the country was now much more diverse. A number of religions from the west had found small but eager toeholds in Tmey's heartland. In 810, Ghawloe, fearing an invasion of foreign infidels, declared that the Tawr Symn faith would henceforth be the official religion of Tmey, and all other religious communities would have to defer before its laws and judgements. Almost immediately, protests broke out in major Tmeian cities. Followers of other religions rioted and burned Tawr Symn temples. Attempts to quell the riots were uneven and largely unsuccessful. Eventually, the riots evolved into guerrilla warfare on officials of the Tmeian crown. Moderate Tmeian nobles became worried, and finally, in early 809, after months of unrest, they denounced Ghawloe and said that Suteri's line had lost its legitimacy. This denouncement only raised more chaos as a full-on civil war began to blossom. Finally, after several more months of anarchy, a major noble from the southwest of the Tmeian Peninsula, managed to rally enough troops to capture Sawmt and declare himself King, executing Ghawloe. Kmeshin Line (809-790 BU) The man who had managed to rally enough troops to himself was born Kmeshin I-Shawnmem and had inherited the largest fortune of any family in the country. With his vast wealth, he was able to buy off most of the country for peace, despite many vastly unpopular policies. In 816, he had converted to the Yuyekusesi religion, a recent import from the Tutuyu Peninsula. With it, he changed his name. He dropped his traditional Tmeian line name, and replaced it with a pair of Tutuyu patronymics and a devotional name, making him Kmeshin E-Lehn E-Sawhti Tawaxshenthenenmu. The Yuyekusesi faith was experiencing a period of rapid growth, and with its focus on peace, charity, and moderation, it was well-regarded even by most non-believers. One of his first major acts was to purge much of Tmey's bureaucracy. While some new blood was brought in, it mostly was just a new wave of nepotism, replacing Suteri favorites with Kmeshin favorites. Kmeshin also largely desecularized the Tmeian legal code. While many laws may have had roots in Tawr Symn morality, religious beliefs were never cited in court, unless it was an explicitly religious matter. Throughout his reign, Kmeshin kept tweaking criminal and civil law to more closely follow Yuyekusesi beliefs. He also contemplated putting a tax on non-Yuyekusesi individuals (roughly 95% of the country at the time), but he ultimately decided against it, fearing a revolt. Kmeshin took four women to wife. Polygamy, though not explicitly mentioned in the faith's holy books, is frowned upon in Tutuyu culture. From these four women, he had 21 legitimate children. Only about two months before his death, he named his son Halenm his successor. Halenm was his sixth child, with four surviving older siblings from all four wives. However, he had been born on the day of his father's coronation, which was taken as a good omen. Kmeshin died in 790. Every other year, Kmeshin would fast in an attempt to get more in touch with the gods, and in 790, he decided to take on an extraordinary fast in the lead-up to his 50th birthday. However, he overestimated his own physical prowess. He lost consciousness and died a week later. Kmeshin was succeeded by his 19-year-old son, Halenm, much to the chagrin of Halenm's four older surviving siblings. All four soon fled Sawmt, fearing a potential purge of the royal family. Halenm shared his father's extreme zealotry while also lacking much of his pragmatism. One of his first acts as king was to implement his father's idea of a tax on followers of other faiths. In his royal decree, he acknowledged his father feared rebellion may break out, but Halenm reasoned that nearly two decades of rule by a Yuyekusesi monarch was more than enough time for the population of Tmey to adjust to being in a subordinate position. At the time of this proclamation, less than 10% of Tmey followed the Yuyekusesi faith. Riots erupted across the entirety of the country, even on the Tutuyu Peninsula, the Yuyekusesi faith's home. This was one of few times where Sfendmeris and Tmeians cooperated. Fearing a religiously zealous neighbor, the small independent Sfendmeri state began providing what material support it could to southern rebels. The rebellions were largely disunified, though there was a common goal of toppling King Halenm. The eastern Tmeian Peninsula provided the strongest anti-Halenm sentiment, and soon most of the east was unified behind Wolehti I-Ontys. Before Wolehti could reach Sawmt with his army, an army from the region of Tuhthmet managed to break through the city walls. In the ensuing chaos, Halenm was captured. He was then stripped naked by the victors, lashed to a pole and paraded throughout the city, where he was pelted with rocks and debris. By the time Wolehti's army arrived three days later, the city was still in a state of chaos. Halenm had died of his wounds, and his body had been left rotting in the sun atop the palace walls. Wolehti's Reforms (790-783 BU) Wolehti I-Ontys had risen through the ranks of Myshym's military very quickly. He was the fourth son of a tanner from the city Pamsuweyl and had joined the army at a young age. He showed great skill as a strategic thinker and an effective leader who was able to quickly earn men's respect. Wolehti was well-known within the Myshmic Army for being a supporter of governmental reform, and at the outbreak of the rebellion against Halenm, he saw an opportunity to potentially set Tmey on what he felt would be a better, more stable path. After arriving in the capital of Sawmt on the peninsula's northwest coat, he made it his first mission to restore order. He declared the monarchy temporarily suspended, and until further notice, he would govern Tmey. Naturally objections arose, especially from other nobles and Kmeshin's surviving children. No one was able to effectively oppose Wolehti, though, as he had massive support from the Myshmic Army, from other armies across Tmey, and from much of the general populace. Three months after his "suspension" of the monarchy, he announced that the traditional absolute monarchy of Tmey would henceforth be abolished. He declared Tmey's official name would no longer be the Kingdom of Tmey (Tamt’ewla(s) Tmeå), but rather, in an effort to be inclusive, the Plurinational State of Tmey (Fåt’a(s) Hråĥowle Tmeå). The head of state would no longer be a monarch with absolute power (Tamt’ehi), but instead an elected leader called the Protector (Uhelt’ekokm) who would share power with a semi-elected legislative body called the Lawhouse (T’ilk’iötmyf). He stated the Protector would be elected to a 10-year term and would be unable to run for reelection. The Lawhouse would consist of a half-and-half mix of unelected nobles with hereditary seats and popularly-elected individuals. Wolehti had initially wanted to have the Lawhouse be fully-electoral, but backlash from the ruling class, whose support he did need for stability's sake, caused him to compromise on that front. He struck Kmeshin's and Halenm's religious phrasing from the Tmeian legal code, reverting it back to its traditional neutral language. He had to resist calls from many prominent leaders in the Tawr Symn faith to swing the pendulum the other way and inflict punitive measures against followers of the Yuyekusesi faith. Certain protections for Tmeian commonfolk were made, protecting them from arbitrary acts by their overlords, much to the outrage of many in the noble caste. Much of Woleht's first four years in power were spent putting down rebellions across Tmey. He personally led many attacks, especially in the far west, where separatist sentiment was strongest. A war with Sfendmer broke out in 788. It was brief and ended in the sacking the Sfendmeri capital of Fayawt. Sfendmer was allowed to retain its independence, though it was made into a tributary state. After working with armies from across Tmey--and not just the Myshmic Army--Wolehti attempted to reform Tmey's military structure and create a centralized, national Tmeian Army. Though he had moderate success in his lifetime, successive rulers were unable to keep their more powerful vassals in check. Early in his military career, Wolehti had spent some time in the westerly military outpost of Kwehsal. While there, he came into contact with traders from Yfa, Udeb, and Athimriss, and he picked up enough Yfan and Athmir to be conversational. While learning it, he was illiterate in Tmeian, as Tmeian was written in a complex system of thousands of symbols meant to convey ideas and grammatical function, as opposed to sound. He was very impressed by the relative simplicity of the Athmir alphabet, though, which was used to write both Athmir and Yfan. This experience led to his 788 declaration that a more simplified form of the Tmeian writing system should be devised. The alphabet he approved in 784 was vastly different from the current simplified Tmeian script (the current script contains 30 characters, whereas Wolehti's had 36, in addition to the symbols used being visually different), but it was a key element in Wolehti's view of a democratic Tmey. At the conclusion of the major rebellions in 786, with most of Tmey, minus some southwestern hinterlands, under his control, Wolehti began traveling across Tmey, pitching his idea of popular governance directly to both nobles and commoners. He slated the first elections for the year 781, in order for Tmey to have time to heal, stabilize, and organize. In general, the nobility ranged from neutral to scornful of Wolehti's ideas, but the general populace were enthusiastically in favor of his ideas. While traveling in Zvidzdrey in 783, Wolehti developed a cough that lingered for several months, gradually worsening. Despite his medicine men's best efforts, Wolehti died of a lung infection two years before his proposed election. In his will, he named his longtime number-two, Hawmno I-Pioeshi, as his successor as interim Protector. Hawmno's Rule (783-777 BU) Hawmno I-Pioeshi was not born a noble, but he was of a higher birth rank than Wolehti. Hawmno's father was a successful horse breeder in Tmey's peninsular southwest, and his mother was a seamstress for the local noble family. Hawmno had similarly joined the military young and had experienced a quick rise through its ranks. Hawmno met Wolehti when the latter was sent as a Myshmic emissary to Hawmno's home territory. The two kept in contact, becoming quick friends, and when Wolehti found himself as the de facto leader in a revolution against an unfit ruler, he was quick to pick Hawmno as his second-in-command. However, due to his upbringing closer to the nobility than Wolehti, Hawmno was less adamant that they be politically neutered or even stripped of their powers, as Wolehti would have liked to have done in an ideal world. Upon Wolehti's death, many of the more powerful nobles were quick to seize upon this. Hawmno was quickly showered with titles and lands. Similar honors had attempted to be foisted upon Wolehti, but he had turned them all down. With this constant adulation, Hawmno turned a blind eye to many of the undemocratic practices of the nobles. When the election was finally held in 781, it was an absolute farce. Fraud was rampant, and Hawmno was elected with over 90% of the vote, supposedly. In the nearly year-long campaign, all serious rivals were either paid off or assassinated. He accepted the numbers and took this as a mandate of his hands-off policy toward the nobility. The general populace were unhappy with the results, but it had been less than a decade since Halenm had been overthrown, and no one was particularly eager for another civil war. Beginning in late 779, though, a handful of cities on Tmey's east coast denounced Hawmno's fraudulent election. They declared they would rather have a king they could trust than a falsely-chosen leader. More and more of the country gradually joined with the eastern cities. No violence broke out, but payments of taxes to Sawmt were suspended. In mid-778, Hawmno tried to take Wolehti's home city of Pamsuweyl back into Sawmt's control, feeling it would lend his government legitimacy. The attack on Pamsuweyl was a disaster and galvanized sentiment for both Hawmno's ouster and the reinstatement of a proper royal family. Many of the nobles who had won Hawmno's favor with titles and lands were quick to abandon him, and by early 777 he found himself isolated both politically and physically. Sawmt was under siege, and Hawmno had no viable escape route. Finally, he attempted to sue for peace. In exchange for his life and the lives of his family, he offered to step down and live in exile. This offer was accepted, and nearly immediately Hawmno, his wife, and his children fled to the Athmir puppet state of Liamsi. Riwnem Line (777-210 BU) Riwnem was chosen as the new Queen (Tamt'ehi) of Tmey within a month of Hawmno's flight. She was viewed as very much the opposite of Hawmno: she opposed most of Wolehti's reforms and was considered to be a firm and decisive ruler who could inspire genuine loyalty in her subjects. Riwnem officially put an end to any hope of future elections and permanently disbanded Wolehti's Lawhouse. She did retain Wolehti's semi-centralized army, however, as she found it much better than dealing with clannish regionalized armies. Outside of the Tmeian Peninsula, she remained exceedingly unpopular and is often remembered as Riwnem the Harsh (Ŕiwnem Åŕat’e). Much of the southern reaches of Tmey managed to gain de facto independence within a few years of her ascension, though she remained adamant that those territories remained Tmeian. Riwnem was succeeded by her daughter Resmu, who sought to distance herself from her mother's totalitarian image. Widely known as Resmu the Conciliator (Ŕesmu Åfiewåtokmis). Resmu begrudgingly acknowledged the independence of many southerly and westerly territories, including Dli-Ensh, Kner-Her, and Tuyuluwyef. Resmu's reign set the tone for the rest of the Riwnem Line. The Riwnem Kings and Queens were largely weak, ineffective rulers in the vein of Awmhawli, Weghimle, and Taxmi monarchs. Tmey rapidly fragmented back into semi-independent fiefdoms, with the ruler in Sawmt being little more than a figurehead. A comfortable stasis had been achieved by the early seventh century BU. Many of the Tmeian fiefdoms were able to maintain a fairly stable political order. The penultimate Riwnem King, Xuleshl the Childless (Xuleşl Xåmnile), however, threw that stasis into wild flux. Xuleshl's reign was a long one, spanning 55 years. Despite taking seven wives over the course of his life, including having four at once for most of the final two decades of his reign, he was never able to beget an heir. Himself being an only child, the exact succession order was murky. Beyond that, his mother was the oldest of 13 children from five wives, so Xuleshl had no shortage of cousins who desired the throne. Near the end of his reign, he began considering his wives' siblings as potential heirs, much t the dismay of his dozens of cousins. In 213, his youngest wife, who he had only married three years prior found herself pregnant. Despite rampant rumors of cuckoldry, Xuleshl eagerly embraced his wife's pregnancy and declared the unborn child his heir. Xuleshl died in 212 BU, shortly before his child's birth. Officially, Queen Foehesn's reign began two months before her birth, with her mother, Queen Dowager Olar I-Kufon, being the de facto leader of Tmey. Most of eastern Tmey refused to acknowledge the legitimacy of the Foehesn, so-called the Bastard (Föhesn İawysis). In addition to the general protestations against an illegitimately-perceived monarch, some in eastern Tmey also began calling for structural reforms which hadn't been seriously considered since the time of Wolehti. Many of Xuleshl's other six wives and their relatives refused to pledge loyalty to a monarch that they perceived as an infant bastard. When general potestations began turning into armed revolt, the military quickly mutinied. Siege was laid to Sawmt, and by early 210, Foehesn's reign had ended after less than two years. Her mother, Olar, was killed during the siege when a rock launched from a trebuchet crashed through one of the towers of the royal fortress. The de facto leader of the rebellion didn't want to execute an infant, so Foehesn was kept as a royal prisoner until the age of 17, when she was married off to the Prince of Uuyale, the leader of a large but sparsely-populated principality to Tmey's south. Tmishawh Line (210 BU-188 AU) Tmishawh I-Tmishawh was chosen from among Tmeian nobles to be the new king. He wished to be remembered like the more positive aspects of the reign of Suteri I. Tmishawh spent almost his entire reign attempting to reassert royal dominance over the Tmeian Peninsula itself. Bit by bit, Tmishawh brought the various Tmeian fiefdoms back under the control of the king in Sawmt. Tmishawh was killed in battle in Tmey's southwesterly Goroci region trying to quell the rebellion of a noble who opposed the reassertion of Sawmt's dominance. The rate of reconquest slowed after Tmishawh's death, but it still continued. By the beginning of the first century AU, under Queen Riwnem III, the lands from Sa-Esh to Zvidzdrey were under Tmeian control. In 110 AU, Crown Princess Resmu married the reigning Prince of Uuyale, under the condition that upon her ascension Uuyale would become a fully integrated province of Tmey. Resmu ascended as Resmu III in 114, at the age of 19. Resmu died in 118, delivering a stillborn daughter. Though others were, by traditional measures, higher up in the line of succession than her chosen successor, not major conflicts broke out. She was succeeded by her cousin, who was crowned as Tmishawh II. Tmishawh II set his sights on expanding Tmey's territory beyond what it had ever been before. An invasion of the Tutuyu Peninsula was launched in 120. In the ensuing six-year war, much of the peninsula was conquered and annexed. The Kingdom of Liamsi protested the invasion of the western half of the peninsula, as it still laid claim to it. Ultimately, Tmey ignored Liamsi's denunciations. Liamsi had not controlled the western coast of the peninsula in several centuries. Tmey annexed the petty kingdom of Huute by marrying off his oldest daughter to their ruler, and beginning in 160, he ordered the Tmeian army to be sent further eastward. A series of wars over the following decade saw new territory annexed to the province of Zvidzdrey. As more territory was conquered, a new territory call Sepreshti was carved out. In response to Tmeian aggression, the independent states of the region banded together to avoid Tmeian domination. After intermittent commercial contact for centuries and on-and-off diplomatic contact since the rule of Tmishawh I, in 177 Athimriss sent a massive political envoy to Sawmt to establish friendly relations with the major power beyond the Yfan Archipelago. Emperor Thneqali I of Athimriss personally accompanied the envoy. Tmishawh II stated that he would have loved to visit Athimriss himself, but he was already 84 years old when the Athmir came. The Athmir brought with them arms and armor, tapestries, cured meats, textiles, beer, and other Athmir goods. In return, Tmishawh enthusiastically gifted them with animal pelts, gemstones, spices, and other exotic Tmeian goods. Thneqali's son Qathmid was left in Sawmt to act as ambassador, and Tmishawh sent his nephew Ferwawh back to Uthri to act as his representative. Despite Tmishawh II's enthusiasm for contact with Athimriss, most of his advisers were hesitant about establishing strong connections with the Athmir. The Athmir client states of Liamsi, Uliajhod, Yhimsi, and Udeb had all had numerous instances of the Athmir reneging on a promise, prompting a war. For the better part of three years, despite his detractors and naysayers, Athimriss and Tmey enjoyed cordial relations. Tmishawh II died in 180 at the age of 87, after a 62-year reign. Emperor Thneqali of Athimriss commissioned a statue of Tmishawh to be placed in central Uthri, where it still stands. Tmishawh II's successor was his grandson, Lighesta III. Lighesta was among the most staunchly anti-Athmir members of Sawmt's court. Less than a month after his grandfather's funeral, he expelled the Athmir ambassador from Sawmt and sent word to Emperor Thneqali that Tmey wished to remain more insular. Transoceanic alliances held no appeal to the new King. Thneqali took this as a grave insult. Athimriss soon began giving economic and military aid to groups within Tmey who wished to throw off Sawmt's yoke. The first to receive such support was the often-restive Tutuyu Peninsula in Tmey's extreme west. Lighesta initially shrugged it off as the usual complaining, but when government officials returned to Sawmt telling tales of foreign styles of weapons, it dawned on him that Athimriss was striking back at Lighesta's slight. Rebellions spread eastward, through Sa-Esh, Goroc, and the Yudric provinces; through the historic troublemakers of Kner-He, Sfendmer, and Dli-Ensh; and all the way out to the far eastern provinces of Zvidzdrey and Sepreshti. Support for Sawmt remained sizable in Bherghogh and Zvidzdrey, though, despite Athmir-supported separatist movements. The province of Tuyuluweyef gained effective independence by 183, with Sepreshti in the far east following soon thereafter. Athimriss launched a full-scale invasion of much of western Tmey, forcing Lighesta to recall much of his military from the bloody wars in the south. The situation continued to sour for the Tmeian government. In 187, Athmir forces managed to land at the heavily-fortified northern tip of the Tmeian Peninsula. The Athmir forces reached Sawmt in early 188. Several battles took place outside the city walls, and for a while momentum seemed to be shifting away from the Athmir forces. However, fresh armies out of Goroc and Kner-He soon arrived. When word of the additional armies reached the city, it became obvious to all that the war was lost. Lighesta's personal guard turned on him, and his body was lashed to a cross to greet the invaders. Sykashi Line (188 AU-present) Category:Territories of Rorut